Love Actually
by koichii
Summary: "Because what's worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?"


**A/N: **This one-shot is inspired by a scene in the film _Love Actually._ I suggest you listen to **Glasgow Love Theme **by **Craig Armstrong** while reading this.All the feeeellllssssss!

Pairings: NijixFem!Kuro (Nijimura only mentioned) and one-sided AkaxFem!Kuro. Yes, one-sided. Sorry.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

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><p><strong>Love Actually<strong>

"Are you in love with him?"

"What?" With a one swift motion, Akashi Seijuurou closed the video camera he was holding and turned to the only person who dared talk to him at the wedding reception of his best friend, Nijimura Shuzo. He raised an eyebrow, the only indication that he was surprised at the sudden query. "What are you talking about, Riko-san?"

Aida Riko shrugged, her sharp eyes focused at the couple dancing at the center of the ball room before they turned to the redhead beside her. "I just want to know if I asked the proper question," she replied. "If you want someone to talk to about it with..."

Akashi immediately shook his head at that, effectively cutting the brunette off. "What you're insinuating is preposterous, Riko-san," he said in the most intimidating tone he could muster in the hopes of scaring the pretty brunette away. He didn't need to talk to somebody about anything, especially his feelings.

The former Seirin coach silently regarded him for a moment before speaking once more. "So you're saying it's a no?" she asked for clarifications.

"Yes," Akashi replied patiently, biting back a sigh. Why is this woman so nosy today? "What gave you that idea anyway?"

"You look like you're sulking, Akashi-san," Riko replied, earning her another raised eyebrow from the red-haired male. "People were thinking that you might be in love with Nijimura-san and is broken hearted when he got married. You two are very close you know."

"Ridiculous," Akashi muttered as he stood up from his seat, wanting the conversation to end. "Now if you excuse me, Riko-san, I have to go check on that DJ before he plays another music that might make all of our ears bleed." Then without waiting for the brunette's reply, he walked off into the other side of the ball room.

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><p><em>-Ring! Ring!<em>

Muttering under his breath while rubbing his right eye, Akashi reached over the bedside table and with his free hand, grabbed his phone that was making an awful noise so early in the morning. "Akashi Seijuurou," he half-stated, half-slurred as he tried his best to fight off the sleep that was threatening to overtake his mind once more.

"Good morning, Akashi-kun," a familiar feminine voice spoke on the opposite line which made the redhead blink rapidly. Pulling the gadget away from his ears, Akashi realised that the person on the opposite line was none other than his best friend's wife, Tetsumi. "I apologise if I woke you up, Akashi-kun," she spoke again when the redhead remained silent after several seconds. "I just have a favour to ask you."

"It's alright, Tetsumi," Akashi replied as he sat up on the bed, knowing that sleep would be impossible right now. "What is it that you need?" he asked as he ran a hand on his tousled red locks. Catching a swift glimpse at the digital clock on his bedside table, he calculated that he still have two hours before he's required at work.

"Anou, the videographer totally messed up the wedding video it was beyond repair," Tetsumi began. "It was troublesome for we didn't have any other video aside from that but I seem to remember Akashi-kun taking several videos during the wedding ceremony and at the reception. If you won't mind, I would like to have a copy of it." Akashi was silent for a full minute this time, causing the bluenette to think that he may either have fallen back asleep or hung up. "Akashi-kun?"

"I apologise, Tetsumi," Akashi said, his tone firm, leaving no room for arguments or protests. "But I seemed to have misplaced the video file. I immediately burned it into a tape but now I'm unable to locate it."

"Is that so?" Tetsumi's voice was laced with disappointment for a while before it brightened again. "Akashi-kun losing things is quite unusual," she observed. "How about I help you find it?"

"I don't really have time for this, Tetsumi," the redhead frankly stated as he approached the life-size glass window and drew the curtains back causing sunlight to stream in his room. He scowled as he pulled the curtains, letting darkness envelop the room once more.

"Please, Akashi-kun? I just want to see myself in a wedding dress where I don't look like a bloated pumpkin."

Akashi let out a quiet sigh before closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I apologise, Tetsumi but I really have to go now."

Tetsumi was silent on the opposite line for a while. "I understand, Akashi-kun. I'm sorry if I bothered you." The bluenette then hung up before the redhead could say anything.

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><p>"Vanilla milkshake?"<p>

Akashi blinked owlishly as he stared at the pretty bluenette standing in front of his apartment that afternoon and offering him a cup of her favourite sweetened drink. He blinked again before taking off the reading glasses perched atop his nose. "Don't mind if I do," he said as he leaned forward and was about to take a sip of the beverage offered to him when it was suddenly pulled away from his grasp.

"Akashi-kun, you've broken my heart," the bluenette said with the same monotonous voice and expression. "You know how much I love my vanilla milkshakes."

"My apologies then, Tetsumi," the redhead replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Aren't you going to let me in?" Tetsumi asked back instead of answering.

"Ah, of course. Where are my manners?" Akashi moved to open the door wider so Tetsumi could get inside. "So what brought you here?" he asked again when she was inside, looking at the pristine surroundings.

Tetsumi turned to him before answering. "I was at the neighbourhood when I decided to drop by and maybe help you in finding that missing video file," she said with a persuasive smile. "You know what they say, two pairs of eyes are better than one."

Akashi suppressed a sigh. "Tetsumi, I was serious about not being able to find the file," he said, his tone reverting into that practiced one that intimidates people.

Tetsumi stared at him for a moment, not saying anything which caused Akashi to squirm a bit inwardly. The redhead prided himself in being able to swiftly read the thoughts and feelings of others but he was constantly frustrated when it came to Tetsumi. The bluenette was probably the only living person in the fictional world that he couldn't read. And she was one hell of an unpredictable woman. "Akashi-kun, can I say something?" she asked.

"Of course," Akashi replied, obviously curious as to what the bluenette would want to say.

Tetsumi heaved a deep breath before speaking. "Akashi-kun is Shu-kun's best friend and I know that you never really got along with me." She raised a hand when the redhead opened his mouth in an attempt to say something. "Please listen to me first, Akashi-kun. We were really never friendly with each other but I want you to know that I'm nice. Well, if you disregard my blatant obsession to vanilla milkshakes, I hope that you'd find it in you to be friends with me."

Tetsumi was giving him a hopeful look, as much as her blank expression could manage, which made Akashi sigh loudly. "Fine. I'll be friendly," he conceded, not liking the fact that it was her who managed to make him submit. "But it doesn't mean that we'd still be able to find that missing tape if we became friendly," he added when she began browsing the series of tapes stacked onto a shelf in the living room of his apartment.

The bluenette let her slim fingers ran through dozens of tapes secured on the shelf before it stopped at a certain one. "Then this tape with the label _Shuzo & Tetsumi's Wedding _might be a start, isn't it?" She smiled at him as she went to the player so she could watch it. Flashing Akashi a smile, she sat on the single couch located in front of the huge flat screen television.

"It's worth a try," Akashi said as he stood rigidly behind, his arms crossed over his chest. He was silently cursing himself for not hiding the tape in his safety deposit box.

"Definitely," Tetsumi replied as the tape began. A delighted smile then showed up on her face as she watched herself, along with her father, walk down the aisle in a white wedding gown. "This is perfect." She turned to smile at the redhead. "You did an amazing job, Akashi-kun." When Akashi just remained silent, she turned back to the video and went on watching.

The video then showed her standing beside Shuzo in front of the altar. A giggle escaped her when the camera zoomed in on her face. "You were always close, Akashi-kun, ne?" She looked at the redhead once more, a wonderful smile on her face which had Akashi's eyes subconsciously softening. "I look quite pretty there."

"Yes. Yes, you are," Akashi murmured, his eyes lingering on the bluenette's petite form for a moment before they settled onto the video.

Tetsumi smiled at the video. Obviously, Akashi did a greater job than the official videographer. She was watching a particular scene where she was subtly rubbing her nose while listening to the priest's sermon and was about to make a joke of it when it finally dawned upon her. The smile on her face slowly disappearing, her delighted expression replaced by something akin to surprise and awe, she went on watching herself dancing at the reception with Shuzo, laughing and talking and eating and drinking. It was all her. Her gaze turned back to Akashi who's mismatched eyes of crimson and gold was staring intently at the video, his expression unreadable. Looking down at her feet and biting her lower lip, she murmured, "They're all of me."

"Yes," Akashi replied, his voice the quietest of all whispers and the trace of any cold demeanor gone from him. When she looked back up at him, she saw that his eyes were quite red, as if he's going to burst into tears any second. "Yes, they are."

An awkward, almost suffocating silence permeated the living room when the video ended. Tetsumi tried to think of something articulate to say but words seemed to have failed her. "B-But... But you never talked to me," she stuttered as she looked up at Akashi. "You always talk to Shu-kun. You don't even like me, Akashi-kun." She knew that she was in denial of what she just discovered. It's completely impossible that the high and mighty Akashi Seijuurou is in love with her.

Right?

Akashi was about to speak when the ringing of his phone startled them both. Grateful for the intervention, the redhead immediately answered it. "Akashi Seijuurou," he greeted, his tone now business-like. "Yes, Shintaro." He listened to the other line for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, I'm fine with it. Tell them I'll meet them there in ten minutes. Okay, bye." Hanging up, he turned back to Tetsumi. "I have to go meet a client. I hope the video was useful." He glanced away for a moment when he said those words. "You can show yourself out." Then without waiting for any reply, he turned for the door.

Tetsumi, who was still in shock at the revelation, just stared at Akashi's retreating figure. She then blinked when he halted in his tracks and turned to look at her, his expression that of a defeated man. "Distancing myself from you," he whispered, his voice barely audible and his smile bittersweet. "It's a self-preservation thing, you see."

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><p><em><strong>#notsosorry<strong>_


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